“Did you eat?” he asked her. She could recognize his voice in any crowd. It was deep, rough, and he enunciated every vowel. He was well-read, but he preferred not to speak often.
“Yes.” She nodded.
He responded with a, “Humph,” emphasizing his contentment. She lifted up her small cot to find a comb made from a shell. A dark-skinned man with warm eyes had given it to her. He did not push her away as she brushed his hair, but he did say, “Storm is a’comin’, seems moot to pull the tangles out now.”
“If I brush it now, it’s less work for me to do later.”
“Humph.”
Xoey brushed her father’s hair. The sky boomed in rage. In between light and sound, they could hear Captain Brighton yell, “All hands on deck!”
“That means you, Xoey.” She almost dropped the comb. He never let her on deck when the storms came through. She followed him up the stairs and onto the main deck. Menacing black clouds filled the air with a palpable aura of heaviness. Ice cold rain battered down onto her small form, instantly drenching her skin. She shivered, freezing to the bone. The deck flooded with seawater, one harsh wave after another. Xoey grabbed the rigging to keep from being washed overboard. Captain Brighton, with hair as red as the darkest flame, grabbed the spinning wheel. His voice boomed, commanding his crew. She could pick out a few words. The wind stole the rest.
Xoey clung onto the rigging as the water clashed violently beneath her. Holding her body weight was exhausting. Her father held fast to the mast. He motioned her to follow him up. She looked up the mast. The looming clouds filled with teeth-grinding thunder made the ascent feel pointless. She had scaled up the mast many times on dry, sunny days. Her father took her slippery hand and tied a rope around her waist to connect with his. Lucas held the end. They had to climb the mast to untangle the sail to tie it down. It was a common occurrence in a storm. It was also a death sentence if not taken care of quickly. Without control of the sails, the Captain could not sail them out of danger.
She followed him up the slow ascent. The wind pushed and pulled desperately trying to pull them down to the great below. Xoey held onto the shrouds tightly. She gritted her teeth and kept moving up. Her father crawled to the edge of the yard where the sail was twisted around. He motioned for her to keep to the other end. They would grab each end, uncoil the sail, and drop it. With one hand, she heaved up the heavy wet sail and with the other, she held on for dear life. Her shoulders ached; her head kept low, focusing only on the task before her, as the sail inched by. She could hear the pitiful scream of a sailor disappearing into the sea. The sail dropped straight toward the deck. Xoey let out a sigh of relief as they descended to the ship’s deck. She could have kissed it. Her father ruffled her hair with his fist.
“Good job, Xoey.”
Shaking off the memories, Xoey swallowed hard. She’d give anything to see her father again. The cart leaned sharp around a curve, up, and back down again. Decyl giggled with glee.
“You okay there, Xoey?” Ramos asked. His dark eyes glanced at her with concern.
“Aye.”
“I never knew there were girl pirates,” he said, attempting to keep the conversation lively.
“I ain’t a girl.” She peered at him.
“How many like you are on a ship?”
She knew what he was getting at. “Kids aren’t allowed on ships, really. Most parents won’t let them. Life on a ship is too dangerous, they’d say.” Xoey shrugged. “They worry too much.”
He turned the wheel to the right to follow the tracks. “What will you do when you find their parents?”
It was her dream to obtain a ship of her own. It would consist of dark wood fit tight with a master’s hand and white sails. The vessel would be intricate in the design, with the figurehead dipped in gold, but she would want two beasts to guard either side. There would be bay windows to show off her quarters, twenty-two cannons, four masts, and it would need a crew of more than forty. “To be a Cap’n, of course.”
“Xoey, women aren’t captains of ships.” It was an old tale that the seas considered women to be bad luck and thus women weren’t allowed on ships, let alone to command a vessel.
She pulled hard at the brake. Mal screamed at the sudden stop. Nadine appeared prepared as she pulled tight on the brake. Decyl fumbled to grab the lever and seemed very angry to no longer be moving. He silenced at the sight of Xoey standing up. “Ya not be taking my dream from me. If you can’t get the delusion out of your head that anyone can’t be a Cap’n, then I feel sorry for you. Ya got no right to judge me. I’m a pirate and I will be a Cap’n. Ya called me one yourself.” She grabbed her hat, climbed out of the cart, and headed back to the rear.
Decyl slid over, hands clamping the wheel. She didn’t want to take his joy away from him. Ramos somberly moved in beside Xoey. “I didn’t mean to upset you. When you obtain your ship, can I sail with you?” Her green eyes weighed his change of heart.
A deafening horn blasted, quickly bringing them to their senses. She covered her ears and turned to see a white light flickering in the distance behind them. “Go!”
Ramos ran to the front, and they pumped the levers to gain momentum. Xoey removed her hand from the brake. “What is it?” she yelled. The three carts lunged forward.
Decyl’s ears flattened and his lips curled. “The only thing it can be—Nix’s transport.”
Her heart clenched tight in fear. The carts weren’t designed to move with speed and the large imposing black mass with wheels was gaining on them. “What about the spell?” Xoey yelled into the darkness. “What is seen is unseen, what is unseen is seen.” The steam powered transport collided into Decyl and Xoey’s cart. The wheels held fast to the tracks.
Ramos shouted back, “It doesn’t work that way. My father isn’t around. The track is going to split ahead. Go right.”
Magic, apparently, was a fickle thing. Her body ached at the second impact. Xoey turned around to face the three wheeled contraption of steam, metal, and black smoke. “Give me your rifle,” she demanded.
“We don’t like giving our guns away,” responded Decyl.
She glowered. “I’m not taking it, I’m using it!”
Decyl kissed his gun, patted it gently, and handed it over. Xoey twisted one knob for power and the other for range, like he’d showed her outside of Yorego. She stood in the cart. She relied on her sea legs to keep her balance as the cart thrashed side to side down the tracks. She needed to get on top of the contraption. “Decyl,” she said, “adjust the knobs.” She motioned to the boots.
“That’s a bad idea, Xoey. There’s a ceiling.” He gestured up at the rocks.
“I have no other choice!”
Decyl muttered under his breath, and while keeping one hand on the steering wheel, he adjusted the knob. “Look at your target and nowhere else.”
She nodded, keeping her eyes focused on the contraption. She could feel her heart beating in her ears. Her palms glistened with sweat. Before she could change her mind, she was shot into the air. Barely avoiding a sharp pointy rock, she landed on top of the vehicle. Xoey struggled to stay on the rounded top. It veered to the right down the track and she slid. Decyl grimaced. “Don’t you dare lose my gun!”
She grabbed onto the wheeled handle and pulled herself back to the center. She squatted down to avoid any overhead rocks.
With her tongue out, she closed one eye, Xoey aimed the rifle. With a whoosh, a thin rod attached to a chain shot out of the barrel. It penetrated the cylinder that rested at the rear of the vehicle. She pushed the button under the grip and the chain retracted. The top of the metal cylinder opened. A giant plume of smoke poured out. She cheered at the sight of the contraption slowing down. Decyl grabbed the brake. “Adjust the knob up one click and jump!”
She turned the knob, but didn’t hear a click. “Nothing is happening!”
Decyl narr
owed his black eyes. “Don’t mess with it.” It was too late; Xoey adjusted it once more. Two clicks followed.
“Uh oh…” Against her will she jumped, and before she collided with the cavernous cluster of rocks, she was entrapped in a net. The boots jumped again, but since she was horizontal, Xoey jumped into the net, but it didn’t prevent her from screaming.
Decyl pulled her down. The net had shot out of his gun and was attached to an extending baton. She kicked the boots off, handed Decyl his gun, and climbed into the cart. “I’ll stick with my own shoes.”
Chapter Seven
Giant’s Pass
The carts emerged out of the darkness and into an enormous valley engulfed in shimmering gray rocks collectively forming white tipped mountains. Xoey suddenly felt very small and cold. Her breath fogged. She tied up her hair and placed the hat over her head.
Ramos pointed left. “We walk through the paths down to Storm’s Hold.”
The pleasant aroma of salt water lifted her senses. “We are near the sea?”
Ramos nodded. “Just over the ridge.”
Her body sank. She wanted nothing more than to see the water lapping at the coastline. Her feet yearned to feel the sand between her toes. The sea would love the offering of the boots.
Decyl was the only one in the group who was not shivering. The snow crunched under their shoes as Ramos led the group down the twisted paths. Howling wind pushed them forward, taunting any exposed skin. The ground vibrated, shaking the layer of ice down into the valley floor. Xoey thought about asking Ramos if it was another worm. She caught the surprised expression on his face and decided against it. Another rumble followed, and another. The earth shook. It was hard to tell which direction it was coming from.
Nadine pointed and her dark eyes widened. “Run!”
Mal ran headlong without question. Xoey turned. A creature taller than twelve feet loomed over the group. Crisp blue eyes sunk into the deeply carved iridescent face. It knelt down to gaze upon the strangers. Mal stopped in his tracks at the sight of another creature blocking his way out.
Decyl drummed his fingers on his belly. “Giants. They guard the earth Djinn.”
Xoey looked around. “I don’t see the Djinn.”
Using a finger and thumb, the giant lifted up Xoey’s hat. “Hey, that’s mine!” She grabbed her hat and rightfully placed it back on her head.
She sniffed a combination of coal and smoke. The giant snapped its attention to the three wheeled contraption rolling, rather somberly, out of the mines. Xoey piped up, “They aren’t with us.”
The giants walked over and around the group, leaving them sighing in relief that they weren’t squished by the creatures’ very large feet. The round iron door of the vehicle opened. A man covered in soot peered out. Upon noticing two giants staring down, he quickly shut the door. Inside, muffled voices exchanged words. The door opened again and this time a blond man stuck his head out of the door. He waved a faint hello, shut the door, and the vehicle blared to life. A giant placed his middle finger upon the inside of his thumb. With a hard flick, it sent the contraption back down the mine tracks. The taller giant spoke. “You are Xoey. I am Creth.”
She stepped forward uncertain of how they knew her name. “Aye.”
He brightened at this and beckoned at her. “Come here, girl.”
Decyl twitched his nose. Nadine held her breath. Mal stepped back. Ramos scratched his head.
She slowly moved toward the creature of ice and snow. Creth stared at her. “You are the one who can see the Djinn.”
Xoey nodded. “Though I do not see any here.”
The giant shook his head. “They are not in the vicinity.” He stabbed the air with a heavily knotted finger. “You’ll find them within Storm’s Hold.”
Xoey stepped forward once more. “Do you know who hunts them?”
Creth rubbed his fingers down his icicle beard. “We believe it is a human. The air Djinn have said he is from Upper City. The water Djinn have informed us that he wears gears for limbs.”
From her pocket, she pulled out the gear pin she found in Desert Town. “Like this?”
“You are too far away and it is much too small to see,” said Creth. Palm up, he placed his hand down before her. “Climb on and hold it in front of my eye.”
She stepped onto his palm. Her boots slipped out from under her. She smiled with a chuckle. Creth picked her up. He wrapped his fingers gingerly around her legs to prevent her from slipping again. Her legs ached from the harsh cold. She held the gear out so that he could see. He set her back down. “Yes.” Creth gestured down the main path. “If you seek to speak to the Eldest, he is in the center of Storm’s Hold. I am certain he has words for you, Xoey.”
Storm’s Hold
The bitter wind clenched around her. Xoey blew hot air into her hands, desperately trying to regain feeling in her fingers. Armed scouts walked on the top of the high walls surrounding Storm’s Hold. A horn bellowed at their arrival. The drawbridge cranked open, and Ramos led the group inside the outer walls. What was inside, she did not expect.
As the Giants gingerly stepped over and around the tiny wood homes, children would jump on their feet for a free ride. A man wearing heavy furs cranked the windlass to close the drawbridge behind them. The cobblestone streets were home to games of sticks and thin rimmed hoops, blind man’s bluff, hopscotch, and marbles. Fire was set ablaze in pots and metal pits behind every home. Beyond the first wall and through curved corridors rested the main square. There were glazed potteries of all shapes and sizes, vendors holding up fish, clawed creatures with spiny mandibles, and shells that were larger than her head. A man with furry eyebrows and a beard to match held up measuring tape, pins, and furs that made Decyl growl. Xoey marveled at the bubbling stew in an iron cauldron. Mal pushed her forward. A man walked over her on stilts juggling colored glass balls. She paused to gawk at the red-haired woman with the small waist. On her shoulder stood a small gray creature with scales, wings, and a very sharp beak. Nadine shook her head. “That’s a Gryfen. They are known to remove fingers so don’t get too close.”
Resting on a stall, Xoey noticed a round plump rock, a smaller rock on top, with two small pebbles on each side. It peered at her with black lines for eyes. As she moved in to take a closer look, the stall shook. Behind it, a gargantuan creature with a defined stone form grabbed the small body of rocks and chewed on it. Ground pebbles, sand, and silt dribbled out of the corner of his mouth and down his elongated jaw. A beautiful and imposing creation of brown, yellow, and red layered in rich sediments—he was a marvel to look upon. Xoey twiddled her fingers in a wave. He snorted in response.
Mal bumped Decyl in the side. “Where are those goggles?”
From his knapsack, Decyl retrieved the goggles. Mal greedily snatched them out of the gnome’s hand. He stared at the creature that only he and Xoey could see. Nadine strolled ahead, “I am going to search for warmer clothes.”
“Excuse me,” said Xoey. “Why are your kind captured?”
The Djinn mumbled incoherently, rough teeth grinded harshly on the remaining bits of the rock.
A heavy voice moved in from behind them. “You won’t find many words out of that one, Xoey.” The owner of the voice stepped in between Decyl and Mal. He was a man of tiny proportions, wrinkled and haggard, with brilliant purple eyes, tattered gray hair, and a beard just long enough to cover his exposed neck. Bundled in magenta corduroy lined with fur, he cast a weighed glance upon Xoey. “My name is Elder Lir. You gain attention when you speak to invisible beings. Many will think you’re a cuckoo.” He pulled them farther down the path, away from the Djinn.
“Why won’t he talk?” Xoey inquired.
“Their king did not grant him permission. The earth Djinn are in a state of mourning. A few nights ago, a machine of metal stole their brothers; sucked them into the trap as though they were made from air.”
Nadine joined the group, handing Mal and Xoey coats lined with fur. Decyl sniffed the lining. “It is not gnome fur. Carry on.”
Xoey tied the coat tight to her shivering form. She pulled the hood down over her hat. Attached to the cuffs were mittens, also lined in fur. Now, she was happy. The warmth settled in rather quickly.
The path shifted away from the square and up a hill to a large fortified castle. Lir led them behind the building, past the courtyard, and down a beaten path. The edge of Storm’s Hold sat on a rough cliff that overlooked the dock. A securely fastened bridge guided them down to the docks. If one lost their balance, they’d roll down the steep bridge. The elder sat down. “You don’t think we’re going to walk down, do you?” He looked back. “Well, latch on then.” With a nod to the guards below, they pulled a lever and the bridge turned into a slide.
Xoey grinned, sat behind Lir, and latched her arms up and around his elbows, as he instructed. Mal sat behind her, Decyl, and then Nadine, and down they went. At the bottom, several guards picked up their giggling forms.
A large ship rested at the end of the pier. She could see men unloading supplies down the ramp. “Why did you bring us here?” she asked.
“You have to find a way back to stop the circus, do you not?”
Xoey narrowed her gaze. “Aye, but we can’t man that ship with our numbers.”
He nodded. “You are correct. The crew aboard has agreed to follow your command.”
Silence lingered. “Wait, I heard the Tinkertons are here. We need to find their parents. Now ya telling me that I get to be the Cap’n of the ship to stop the circus.”
Adventures of Captain Xdey Page 8
