Eletheria sat in the sled, watching everyone else trudge through the mud. The rain had let up some, but the damage was already done, the ground they were trying to move through the sticky muck. Gerard and some unknown sailor were dragging Ele’s wooden sled across the Kvorth bay. Lex was jogging beside her, appearing to not be slowed down by the mud. From the way, the hairs on Ele’s arms were raised. She knew he was channeling.

As they moved a lump of something sitting at an odd angle slowly materialized ahead of them. The vessel ahead of them appeared to be more of a barge than an actual ship. As they got closer, Ele could see the draft of the ship was shallow. The keel extended maybe eight paces below the bottom and had not sunk in as much as the rest of the ship had. This left the ship at a 45-degree angle with its starboard side under probably two paces of muck.

Lex helped Ele stand and James handed over her crutches. Ele took a step but the tips of the crutches sank into the mud and made moving with them difficult. Ele handed the crutches to James and threw an arm around Lex’s shoulder. With one arm around Lex and the other around James, they approached the boat. The deck of the boat had some mud filling in the starboard side where the ship had sunk into the ground. A few sailors were working with shovels to remove dirt from the deck. One was not wearing a shoe on one foot forcing Ele to stifle a giggle. Towards the front of the ship, hanging onto one of the masts so he could stand on the deck at a 45-degree angle, stood Cesar.

“Captain, may we board your ship?” Lex called out when they got close enough to be heard. Cesar let go of the mast and took a few steps down the slanted deck until he was standing on level ground. He turned and looked at Lex, Ele, and James.

“Permission granted!” Cesar replied enthusiastically and he approached them. “What happened? You guys are much later than we were expecting. Dawn will be here in a few bells.”

“We were attacked and Ele’s injury made the journey more difficult,” Lex replied then after a second he looked down and added, “plus I think we got lost. None of us are really familiar with the Kvorth side.”

“Ah, I should have anticipated that. Even my own crew was only familiar with the area because of our scouting missions. Also, we should have foreseen the need for a carriage for Ele,” Cesar replied solemnly.

“We… did not… plan… for… a barge…” Ele said slowly and in obvious pain. She thought about her lack of speed to outrun pirates or scavengers.

“Aye, this was a new development. We did not consider the mud until tonight, when Artur lost a boot in the muck.” Cesar pointed to the one-shoe sailor.

“Are the ship’s supports still good?” Lex asked, looking at the ship and kicking at the deck coming out of the ground near where they stood.

“Felicia took excellent notes from Ele and believes so. She also wanted to discuss the lifting with both of you once you arrived,” Cesar replied. He looked at his chest, and a hand went into his jacket as if he remembered something. He pulled out a little metal flask and handed it over to James. “For her pain,” he said as James accepted the strange gift.

“Whiskey… I cannot… interferes… with…” Ele said while shaking her head. She wasn’t able to complete her sentence as she closed her eyes for a moment and her jaw tightened.

“We have to be clear-minded to channel quan. She will rest while we setup the lift equipment,” Lex finished for her as Ele slumped between Lex and James’s shoulders. Cesar ordered some sailors nearby to setup a place for Ele to rest while everything else got done. Once Ele was in as comfortable position as they could get her, Felicia approached.

“Ele, I solved the issue with not being good at splitting quan,” Felicia excitedly said as she knelt down to look Ele in the eyes.

“Tell Lex.” Ele was able to get out before she closed her eyes again. Felicia stood up and looked at Lex, who was looking at Ele with obvious concern upon his face.

“Lex, so the issue is neither of you could split four different bits of quan.” Felicia told Lex who nodded. “So, if we place the different pieces in a cross pattern I think we can balance it out. Have the front and back be controlled by Lex and use the two biggest and then have Ele control the starboard and port ones for stability.”

“That may work, have they located where the placement could be?” Ele asked with sudden interest and renewed energy. Felicia smiled and produced some paper with a crude drawing upon it. The drawing was the approximate shape of the boat with a little X and a number indicating where the placement would be. Ele’s eyes widened the more she looked at it and studied the numbers written off on the side. “This should work. We aren’t planning on flying it far, just to the water.”

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“Excellent. Apparently, Isaac has a great mind for numbers and when you guys didn’t show we had some free time,” Felicia replied

“Do not let her avoid all the credit; Felicia had planned ahead with several ship drawings and placements we could use depending on the ship,” Isaac interjected, and his comment made Felicia blush a little.

“Great job, everyone. Now let’s get them installed and get moving. We need to be in the water before first light,” Ele said trying to get things going. As they scrambled away from her she went back to trying to rest.

Eletheria held her hands together and nervously tapped a thumb against the other thumb. It felt like too much time had passed since the sailors started securing the metal rods into position. Then they had to wait for the wires to be ran so Ele and Lex could power them while standing on the ship. For the run both Lex and Ele had their own lifters securely attached to themselves so if the ship started to crash or something, they could pull themselves up and out of it. Cesar and a few sailors also occupied the deck to control the ship.

The rest of the crew were to follow along the ship through the mud. Trailing on each side of the ship was to be a rope that would drag along. This would allow the remaining crew to climb aboard once they got close to the water and the threat of the ship crashing was minimal. As those on the deck were securing themselves to some railing, Cesar yelled at Ele and Lex.

“Windmasters, remember, we do not doubt your skill or ability. It is the wood of the ship and its integrity that we question.” Cesar smiled and nodded at Ele and Lex. Ele laughed while looking at Cesar and then she looked at Lex.

“After all we have gone through, I doubt my ego will notice such a slight,” Ele commented.

“I for one am insulted and demand satisfaction from the captain,” Lex yelled and a brief sour look upon Cesar’s face appeared before Lex continued, “And I accept satisfaction in the form of good whiskey.” This added some laughter to the serious mood; even Ele giggled at the setup and she laughed at how much such a joke was out of character for Lex.

A few last-minute checks with everyone to verify they were ready. A sailor walked over and verified the ropes tied to the main mast near the wires were also secure. The rope had little hooks on it that Ele and Lex could secure against their belt but be easily removed if things went bad. A couple of the sailors had the ropes in hand so they wouldn’t have to pick it up as it dragged on the ground. Cesar and the members near the railing were secure. Lex and Ele started their own countdown. When they reached two, Lex was going to start channeling into his two lifters slowly. Ele was hoping a gentle rise would reduce the strain upon the support beams the lifters were secured to.

“Three, two,” Ele said and felt Lex’s channeling on her arms and on the wood below. “One, Go!” Ele finished and powered up the two smaller lifters secured on the starboard and port sides. The amount of muck still inside the ship or holding it down must have been great as the ship wiggled as multiple support points were being lifted upwards. Ele was to maintain a constant force to her two and Lex was to keep applying more and more quan until they lifted into the air. Since Lex was the more powerful of them, it was the obvious choice aside from his inability to split quan.

The old ship creaked and groaned some more as the wood was stressed. The deck where the main lifter was located bowed upwards a little. As the wood creaked around them, Ele became worried about the wood breaking and splinters spraying everywhere. As the ship moved a little, Ele started alternating applying more quan to one side than the other. This made the ship wiggle even more and it started to rock a little from side to side.

As the deck creaked and groaned even louder than before, the curves of wood bulging as the force was being applied underneath, there was a loud sucking sound as the ship freed itself from the muck. The freeing came suddenly and the amount of quan being channeled into it was much more than the elevation they were currently at. The ship jumped upwards in the air until they were about a hundred paces from the ground. Yells for help came from below them as the sailors who were hanging onto the ropes were pulled into the air with them.

“Slowly lower in 3, 2, 1, lower,” Ele said slowly while looking at Lex. He was looking right at her and smiling. The ship lowered itself slowly until the sailors who were hanging from a rope yelled that they were back on the ground. The ship kept lowering until another yell advising them the keel was three paces above the muck. Then, slowly, the ship started drifting due to the downslope and moved in the direction of the sea. Occasionally, from below, a sailor would yell, “Two paces,” or “One pace,” and Ele and Lex would channel a bit more quan to bring them to a safe height over the muck.

As they got closer to the sea, Ele started feeling the strain. It wasn’t so much the quan as it was standing on one foot. She was going to use the crutches but when they started the deck was at an angle so she couldn’t stand with the crutches and hold the wires for quan. The ship would occasionally list to one side or the other. The people on the desk were still secured to the railing but it made for an uncomfortable ride. As the listing grew greater and greater with every few moments that passed, it became obvious the strain on Ele was wearing her out.

“Almost there, Ele! Just hang on a little longer!” Felicia yelled from the railing as she looked over towards the sea. Ele struggled to maintain focus and control but as the listing grew to greater and greater it required more and more power to compensate.

“We need to land, I am losing control!” Ele yelled at Lex. Lex appeared taken aback by Ele’s yell but he nodded in reply.

“The water is shallow but should stop the listing as long as I keep the bulk above the waves,” Lex replied, but Ele’s eyes were closed, and she did not appear to hear him. Ele could only hear her heart beating in her ears as the pain ran rampant through her muscles and joints. In an effort to keep standing, she had locked her joints and she was feeling woozy. Lex quickly reduced the height of the ship until he felt the keel cutting through the waves. The weight of water on both sides of the keel reduced the listing but the strain of the wood as the ship tried to push the sea filled the air. Once the ship stabilized the creaking went away. Darkness started filling the edges Ele’s vision before she collapsed to the deck.

“You know not to lock your knees,” Lex advised her as she woke up to a few light taps on her cheek.

“I couldn’t think of any other way to keep standing,” Ele replied as she started coming to. As soon as she saw Lex’s smile, a wave of relief came over Ele. “We made it, then.”

“Yes, but you didn’t have to stand. There was enough wire to sit,” Lex informed her.

“FAEX!” Ele cursed loudly then she blushed as everyone in the crew looked at her.

“Windmistress!” Cesar said sternly, “we’ll make a sailor out of ye yet.”