The Fateless: Errata

by Seri Anne Lynn

  “Well met future Chief Engineer,” the dwarf greeted him smiling and finding a seat adjacent to Aidan and Tybor. “An’ to you Ambassador MonSeils.”

  “Well Met Marko, how are dings goin’ down in dat boiler pit of your’n?” Tybor answered back. Aidan swallowed hard realizing that they knew one another.

  “Oh it goes, as you know,” the Chief Engineer replied. “Would be a sight better though if we could get the chains to magically link up on the rigging again. We’re doing all we can to hold her in though. We’ve lashed some temporary stays down, but with the wind current like it is, I don’t think it will last at full speed. We may just have to cut our losses and land somewhere in the wilds. We’ll never get it linked up the right way if we stay up here in these winds.”

  “So’s no real progress den?”

  “Sorry sir, no.”

  “What’s wrong?” Aidan asked out of pure curiosity. Letting the gooey gravy drip from his spoon, he searched for a reaction from Tybor, uncertain if it was okay for him to be asking anything at all. To Aidan’s relief, Tybor stared, but said nothing.

  “It’s simple really. That darn critter tangled up the chain rigging when it smashed into it. Smashed a few pipes up pretty bad too. Thankfully, the ballonets weren’t punctured though, or we’d likely be ashes instead of chowing right now. But there’s still a good chance they could break away from the stabilizers and detach from the ship.”

  Seeing that it was alright for Aidan to say something, Tat decided it was alright if she asked questions too, “That critter? You mean the baby dragon?”

  “The poor thing, it’s a good thing the Ambassador here was able to save it.” They stared in disbelief at Tybor who was doing his best not to acknowledge their surprise. “It will need some healing for a while, but even with a broke wing, it should be able to take to the skies again at some point,” Marko continued.

  “Is that why there’s so many harpoons down below?” Rowen asked, curious as well. “To take down dragons?”

  “Actually, no; at least not these days. Originally maybe yes, that’s what they were for back in the old days, but we don’t have encounters like that anymore. It’s a rare thing to see one, much less a drove of dragons like that. And usually if we do see one we just fire a flash cannon in the air somewhere and it usually scares it away, sending it in the other direction. Yesterday was like some kind of stampede. In over 400 years of being on this ship, I ain’t never seen anything like it. And for them to leave the little one behind, it was almost as if they were fleeing something.”

  Aidan’s mind was flushed with questions. Flash cannon’s? Four hundred years of being on this ship? A stampede of dragons? Fleeing something? He wasn’t sure what to ask about next.

  “Dat’s ‘nuff questions. I’m sure Marko’s got o’er dings ta focus on den answerin’ a bunch of kid’s questions.” Marko looked at Tybor strangely, unsure of how to respond.

  “Oh sure, sure,” Marko nodded, “I guess I’ll get back to the ol’ drawing board.”

  “Have you tried using the harpoon launchers to put up new chains to secure the ballonets?” Aidan blurted out, watching Tybor carefully, knowing he was on thin ice.

  “How so?” Marko asked.

  “Well if you hook the chains or some kind of cables to the harpoon shafts and change their firing angle, wouldn’t you be able to get them securely across to the other side without needing to land?” Aidan answered with a question and tried to ignore the warning glare he was now getting from Tybor.

  “Ya know, that just might work. I mean I’d have to do some figuring and change some calibrations. As well as see if we have enough chain and cable left. Also, I’d have to find something lighter than the harpoons so it didn’t rupture the ballonets. Seeing how I would need to adjust for the weight of the chains and adjust the projection accordingly...” Marko more mumbled to himself than replied to Aidan.

  “I said ‘nuff questions.” Tybor repeated himself.

  “Sorry.” Aidan apologized, staring back down at his plate.

  “Well I should get back at it,” Marko took Tybor’s annoyed response to mean he should probably take his leave.

  “I dink das ‘nuff eatin’ fer now. Time fer youn’s ta gets back ta work.”

  Marko couldn’t help but comment as he stood, “don’t be too hard on ‘em Ambassador sir. I know that you were testing them, and they didn’t exactly pass the way you wanted them to, but they’re just curious. And as you know, curiosity is good for the imagination and imagination is good for creativity and problem solving.”

  Does everyone know everything about us? Are they all in on the games that Tybor seems to be playing? More questions. Rowen sighed.

  “It’s not bein’ curious I concerned wid so much as dem needin’ ta know dat dey need ta do as dey’re tol’ an’ follow orders so deys stay safe an’ outta trouble,” Tybor replied glaring at them.

  “I see. Well, I just know that one there,” he gestured to Aidan, “has a good head on his shoulders at least.”

  “We’ll sees in time if dat’s true or not.” Tybor replied and with that Marko gave the salute and bow of the Crown and went on to join some of the other engineers at another table.

  None of them had quite finished their meal, but once Tybor was ready to go, they didn’t push it with asking him if they could finish. He instructed them to get their equipment and continue starting with the bottom deck on starboard side this time and work their way up. He would join them after he took care of a few things.

  Tat seemed to struggle with carrying her bucket on the stairs. She wasn’t used to doing this much work. Sure she’d learned to deal with doing some amount of work in the pit, but that was mostly stationary. This required a whole new level of endurance.

  “Let me get that for you,” Aidan surprised her, seeing that she was struggling.

  “Uhmm, alright...” Tat handed the wooden bucket over to Aidan and he balanced it on top of his mop bucket.

  “This isn’t fair to you; and I’m sorry about that Tat,” Aidan sighed.

  Where was this coming from? Tat wondered. “Oh no, it’s okay, no need to be sorry. I’m here because I’m meant to be, or at least that’s what Tybor said. I’m a part of this too, and like he said we’ve got to become a team and act like one. So if you and Rowen have to do it, I should too.”

  “Whatever.” Rowen overheard them and cut in, doing the usual, shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes, “Don’t let Tybor’s BS get to either of ya, he’s just enjoying his power trip.”

  “What’s your problem?” Tat squared off with Rowen.

  “What do you mean? I don’t have a problem.”

  “Why are you so down on Tybor? Isn’t he a friend of yours? Why do you keep arguing with him and not doing what he says? He’s just trying to protect us and keep us safe so we can do what we set out to do.”

  “You’re kidding right?” Rowen couldn’t believe that Tat was defending Tybor so much. And since when did she get so vocal about things?

  “He’s being a jerk. He’s been a jerk this whole time. First he insisted he had to come with us back at the start of all this. And then he ditched us before we got to Yon’s Pass and left us to fend for ourselves for weeks. That right there proves he doesn’t care anything about us.

  Then once we got to Graymark he treated us like little kids ordering us around and telling us what we had to do. Not to mention he got us thrown into a jail cell on a skitterdu that he made us stowaways on.

  And now he’s got us up here on this thing. Annokai are looking for us and there’s nowhere to run and then we almost got killed by being stampeded by dragons. And let’s not forget he’s treating us like his personal slaves with threat of being whipped if we don’t obey him. Or did you forget about all that already?”

  Tat glowered. “Well, you’re forgetting that he’s the one that got us to Yon’s pass and gave us money so Aidan could get a bath and some clothes. And he got us a room. He was gone for a bit, but he ha
d people looking out for us, he told us so.

  “Then when things were getting bad there, he was the one that rescued us and got us safely to Graymark – and then got us another room there and food and now thanks to him we’re on our way to Breah Dorn. And he’s been protecting us this whole time. Didn’t you say that he killed an Annokai that was coming after you?

  “We would never have gotten this far or even be up here if he hadn’t tracked down the Ceil and sacrificed his freedom to get us passage on this thing. Then we had really fancy rooms and things were good for a bit until you two had to go and mess things up! All you had to do was listen to him and let him keep us safe, and neither of you could even do that.”

  “What? Well if you hadn’t–” Rowen started yelling back.

  “Stop it!” Aidan got between them. “Rowen she’s right and you know it. Tybor isn’t the bad guy here. We messed up. And all this arguing and getting angry and stuff has got to stop. Tybor’s right. We don’t listen. He’s told us over and over.”

  “That still don’t give him the right to treat us like this. We’re not his kids or his soldiers.”

  “No we’re not,” Aidan agreed, “but I’m glad he’s here, and if this is what it takes, then this is what it takes. Think about it Rowen! He’s used to ordering soldiers around. He’s treating us the same way he would treat them if they weren’t listening.

  Yeah, you may know a lot about this world, because you’ve been learning about it for a long time, and Tat knows stuff too since she’s been here her whole life, but like she told us; she never got around this world that much. And me, I barely know anything about this place. Tybor’s got experience and knows a lot more than any of us do.

  He’s right. This world is dangerous. We do need him to protect us. You said yourself he’s like a trained ninja. Do you think we’d stand a chance if the Annokai catch up with us?”

  “Still, he’s got no business -”

  “Come off it already! If it’s bothering you that badly then just go back to the Otherworld. At least you can go back anytime you want!” Aidan shouted in Rowen’s face, with his fists balled next to his sides, trying not to give in to the temptation of knocking the stubbornness out of him.

  “I can’t go back!” Rowen choked out, “I’m not stupid. I was sent here... It was never about finding that stupid plant thing. Amma wanted me here for this. I know it now. I just don’t get why Tybor is treating us like we’re some kind of soldiers he’s training for a mission or something.”

  “Because I am trainin’ you’n,” Tybor stepped out of the stairwell and onto the deck where they were standing. “You dink all dis gonna be over when ya get ta Breah Dorn? I’ve gots news, it ain’t. An’ while I dunno what’s comin’, I knows you’n got ta be ready an’ I may not be able ta be dere ta protect ya.”

  “What do you mean? I thought all we had to do was go to Serendi’s temple and–” Tat asked what her and Aidan were thinking.

  “Has any of dis been dat simple? Dis is jus’ one of dose dings you’s gonna have ta trust me on.” Tybor realized he’d already said too much, “now, I dun recall tellin’ you’n ta stan’ aroun’ an’ do no hollerin’. Dere’s work ta be done, so git to it.”

  “No! I’m sick and tired of your shit! Damn You! You either tell me what’s really going on here or I’m outta here as soon as we get to Breah Dorn,” Rowen demanded.

  Tat and Aidan were genuinely scared at this point. None of them had been brave enough to talk to Tybor that way, and they both half-expected Tybor to throw Rowen off the side of the deck. Instead, Tybor stood there for a moment calmly saying nothing.

  “A’ight,” he sighed finally. “You’n two go on an’ get started, Rowen an’ I gonna have a li’l talk.”

  Tat and Aidan did as they were told to do, hurrying toward the stairs, not wanting to have to deal with whatever was coming next.

  “An’ you come an’ walks wid me boy,” he said calmly to Rowen. Rowen shoved the mop bucket as hard as he could to the wall, too angry to care, and followed him.

  Tybor and Rowen walked from one end of the deck toward the other end in complete silence. Perhaps Tybor was giving Rowen time to calm down. Perhaps he was trying to figure out how to get across that he was doing what was best for all of them.

  “Dis shoul’ do,” Tybor faced Rowen. “Now come at me.”

  “What?”

  “Come at me. You’s wanna take a shot at me, I can tell. Well, here’s yer chance.”

  “I’m not gonna–”

  “I says come at me. Hit me. You’s says I’m jus’ a jerk, an’ I dun care, well dat’s gotta be makin’ you’s mad, so hit me. Give it all ya got. I’m gonna give you’s dis one chance an’ I’m not gonna do nothin’ ‘bout it if’n you do, so jus’ hit me.”

  “That’s messed up. I’m not going to hit you.”

  “Fine. I’ll hit you den,” Tybor shoved Rowen’s shoulder.

  “Stop it.”

  “Nope, now I says hit me, so hit me.” Tybor punched Rowen’s shoulder this time, hurting Rowen a bit if the way he flinched was any indication.

  “Are you crazy?” Rowen screamed.

  Tybor slapped him hard in the face. That was the button that Tybor was aiming for as Rowen drew back and landed his fist squarely into Tybor’s jaw with all the strength he could muster. Tybor could have easily dodged the blow, or any of the following blows but he didn’t. He let Rowen hit him any place it landed, and when Rowen started slacking with it, Tybor would slap Rowen in the face again angering him even more.

  This process repeated for a while and Rowen began screaming all of the things he’d been asking himself at Tybor. Finally Tybor started dodging Rowen’s blows so he could hear what it was Rowen was yelling at him about but let him get a few in here and there. Rowen continued to swing and yell every single question. Everything that hadn’t made sense to him. Eventually Rowen started slowing down.

  “You’s done den?” Tybor questioned as Rowen bent down to his knees trying to catch his breath.

  “No!” Rowen lunged one more time swinging wildly but saying nothing; he collapsed into Tybor. Tybor hugged him tightly.

  “Let it all out. Go on, get it all outta dere.” Rowen sobbed into Tybor’s shoulder just like Tat did the day before.

  “I just, I just don’t get it. Why is all of this happening? Why is Amma suffering and why couldn’t I help her?”

  “I can’t answer dat, ‘cause I dunno. But you’s need ta know I’m not doin’ anythin’ I’m doin’ jus’ cause I can. I know it might not make any sense to you’ns but I got my reasons fer what I tells ya ta do. I wish I knew why you dun trust me ta keep you’s safe. I wish we could jus’ trust one ano’er.

  “Yeah, I’m given you’s orders an tellin’ ya what ta do. An’ dat might not seem fair, but it’s like Aidan said, I knows a lots more den you’n do ‘cause I gots a lot more ‘xperience. An’ I knows you dink you’s all grown up. An’ I not sayin’ you’s can’t take care of yerself in da Otherworld, but dis place is a differen’ story. Shoot, it took me nearly a century ta get ta where I coul’ handle it.” Tybor stared off for a second.

  “You know, you’s like dat baby dragon I done saved. Yeah yer big ‘nuff ta go flyin’ by yerself, but when you’s run away from dings you’s gonna fin’ yerself tangled up in stuff you’s know nothin’ bout. An’ befo’ ya know it, I’s gonna have ta come an’ cut ya loose. Yeah, you gonna flail aroun’ an’ lash out like it did. He got me as good as you did, but jus’ like him yer wings dun broke. Yup, just like dat little dragon. You’s need time ta slow down an’ heal. Dat’s gonna mean listenin’ ta me an’ doin’ whatcher tol’ so I can make sure yer safe. Ya knows?”

  Rowen nodded.

  “An’ I dun like havin’ ta punish none of you’n but it’s da only way I can get ya ta un’erstand and learn dat you’s need ta do what I tell ya. An’ if’s ya keep it up, I will do what’s I gotta do ta make you’s un’nerstan’ dat I’m not playin’ here son. An’ it can get a
whole lot worse before it gets better. Ya know what I’m sayin’?” He pulled Rowen back from him to make sure he was actually listening to him.

  “Yeah but...”

  “No Rowen, no but. You’s gotta stop bein’ angry all da time an’ do what I say.”

  “I know. I mean, I know you’re right. It’s just I dunno, sometimes everything just gets so confusing.”

  “Well den, you’s need ta stop thinkin’ ‘bout it. Lemme do the thinkin’ for all of us, an’ you’s jus’ do whatcher tol’. Can you’s do dat?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Rowen looked down at his feet.

  “No guessin’ ei’er. What’s wid all dis guessin’ wid you kids? I says you’s can do it, an’ you’s will do it or we can’ have more of dis or worse. Your choice. I don’t know ‘bout you’s, but I rather you’s all jus’ do what I say an’ we get on wid it. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good, an’ next time you’s got a head full of questions like dat I want you’s ta come ta me an’ tell me. We can talk ‘bout it. Don’t go holdin’ it in like dis an’ gettin’ all angry. Un’nerstan’?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah? Is dat how your amma taught ya ta answer your elders?” Tybor smiled.

  “No. I mean, no sir.”

  “Now you’s ready to get back an’ help dem wid da decks?”

  “Not really,” Rowen chuckled, but then saw Tybor’s smile drop. “I mean yes sir.”

  “Good den, let’s fin’ your mop bucket an’ get goin.”

  Rowen and Tybor went to the bottom deck where Aidan and Tat made it about halfway through. Tybor made Rowen start at the end of the deck they already cleaned while having Tat and Aidan sit on the deck chairs in the middle until Rowen made it to them.

  While Tat and Aidan had a lot of questions about what happened, they were way too afraid to ask. They were incredibly surprised when Rowen apologized. They wanted to find out more about it all, but Tybor ordered them to ‘quit talkin’ and get back ta work’.