XX.
Another week went by before they managed to make the craft seaworthy, and a few days more before they were true and ready to depart. Vagari dropped the heavy crate of supplies upon the rebuilt deck and there were nary a creak to be heard. It was beyond satisfying. He slid the crate back with his foot so it locked in place with the others stacked at the rear of the ship. He tested the mast one last time and sighed in relief that it hadn’t spontaneously loosened itself in the night. Now it could probably support his weight – probably. BP hopped abord from dockside, landing with a barefoot plop. “No luck on the A.I. I’m afraid,” she announced, having done one last sweep through the market in the hour prior. “Best I could find was another tablet, so I snagged it for parts if mine dies.”
“Why do you still carry that thing around?” Vagari asked as he re-rechecked every inch of the boat. “Sentimental reasons?”
“Yeah,” BP admitted as she joined him. “I miss Aan a lot… AND – and it could be useful! There’s all kinds of tech stuff out there, I imagine, and maybe we could use it to… use it! I don’t know.”
“Not a bad idea,” he replied with a smile. “Might have been able to bypass a lot of walls in the past if I had one. I wonder where the scrapper found the other…”
“Don’t know,” said BP nonchalantly. “Just know it was dirt cheap since its battery is dead-dead. The rest of it looks to be in okay shape – so parts it is!”
“You never know,” Vagari offered with a nod as he did one last once-over of their resources. All seemed well and accounted for. It was a shame about the lack of A.I. but being able to sense magnetic North it wouldn’t be detrimental to their journey. Unlike with the twists and turns of the city, there was no getting lost on the open water. The lake was probably the largest in the world, an inland sea really, but all they had to do was go straight. Vagari made his way to the wheelhouse at the front of the ship, and then said in a satisfactory tone, “What I do know is it’s time to go.”
“Once more, dear friend,” BP announced with a smile in her eyes.
“Once more,” finished Vagari, smiling back.
The motor kicked on with a jolt, roaring to life, which typically wasn’t a good thing for an electric motor, but Vagari did his best to ignore it as BP wacked at it with a wrench until it quieted down to a purr. She then ran to the side and set them loose from the dock, letting the heavily retrofitted antique float off into the bay. “It’s a strange thought,” Vagari announced to her, “four-hundred years ago this used to be an ocean basin – the Gulf of Mexico, I think it was. Back then people were destroying the world just by existing. Our ways caused the planet to heat up and that caused the icecaps to melt and the world suddenly got a whole lot smaller. To save some of the coast they built a great dam going from one corner to another, and purifiers to desalinate the water. I doubt we’ll find Eldorado, but if we go far enough East, we’ll probably see it – the dam.”
“I’d like to!” BP chimed as she scurried up to the crow’s nest. “After this is all over, we should go see it. I’ve never seen the ocean! Have you?”
“Only years ago,” Vagari admitted, “before… everything. Though, I’ve heard out west they have whole cities built on it. Instead of keeping the water at bay, they just dove in.”
Vagari wondered how much of the wall still stood. It was a feat of engineering and somehow kept the ocean at bay all these years – but how long could that last? He was doubtful that it seen much upkeep the last two-hundred years. Eventually it would give way and places like East-End would be wiped away in the biblical deluge. It had withstood war, complacency, and the apocalypse, but in the end, time always won.
Within what felt like a blink of an eye, the first day on the boat had come and gone without so much as a harsh gust of wind. From start to sundown the water had been as smooth as glass, allowing them to keep a steady pace of 15mph – the boats top speed – as they traced the coast about a mile out as the ship’s old owner had crudely advised. As night fell, they slowed to a stop and dropped anchor just to be safe. After a meal of algae-tack soaked in an herbal brew for flavoring, the two lounged on the deck and stared up at the moon and stars above. It was a peaceful moment that Vagari was more than willing to accept. “The last time I was on a boat…” He mused as he pointed up to the shattered moon, “that was whole. I was just a kid, probably around your age actually, and my father got it in his head that he wanted to have one of those quintessential father-son trips. So we rented a dingy and had it take us out to this lagoon. It was beautiful, full of all kinds of life! Frogs and birds were singing, the bugs were dancing on the water laying their eggs and being nipped up by little schools of fish. It was an experience I truly enjoyed – every second of it, from the loons’ cry to the carp leaping out of the water. It was beautiful, and when the boat died, I thought ‘God, I could stay here forever,’! But my father… Well, that was the first and last time he ever tried to meet me half-way. He hated it – like most things I enjoyed, I guess. But, I thought the world of it. It was then I knew I wanted to be a conservationist – a biologist, working in the field to reconstruct the ecosystems we had destroyed.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation,” BP said, tracing the stone belt that tailed the ruined moon with a stubby finger, “my dad tried to have me shot so he could steal my organs or something.”
“Yeah,” Vagari admitted between a snort and a laugh, “that has to take the cake. Worst thing mine did was make me into him. My father… I can’t even remember his face anymore, just that he was a stoic prick who kept his only son at arm’s length. Still, I know he just wanted what he thought was best for me. He was never there for me, me as a person, but he never abandoned me either – or try and steal my organs.”
Vagari let out a heavy sigh as he adjusted his back up against the pontoon’s railing. It let out a groan in a way that made him feel like he was about to fall overboard, coaxing a yelp out of him as he lurched forward. Now BP let out a laugh. Vagari smiled at her and she did her best to return the grin. There they spent a few hours counting the stars before drifting off into dreamless sleep. However peaceful, the rest would be short lived.
The sun was just dawning when they were yanked back into the waking world by a harsh jolt as something struck the left side of their pontoon. BP yelped and groped wildly as she began sliding across the deck towards the edge. She only made it a few feet before Vagari managed to snag her by the ankle, preventing her from falling overboard. Vagari braced himself the best he could with his catch, but even still, he himself was nearly thrown over the side when the risen pontoon slapped the surface of the water. “What the hell was that?!” Vagari cursed as he tugged BP to her feet. Breathing harshly, he tried to steady himself before looking over the side. He didn’t see anything at first, and after a moments notice, he saw even less – namely their anchor. He spat out another curse as he rushed to the wheelhouse, saying as he went, “Dammit! The chain must have snapped in the night… We’ve drifted off!”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I – I’ll go to the lookout,” BP shouted, rushing to the boat’s singular mast, “see if I can spot shore!”
“No!” Vagari exclaimed, stopping her short of the ladder. “If we get hit again, you’ll get thrown into the lake!” Vagari spun in a circle at the wheel, trying to sight anything from their location, but all he could see was acrid yellow water stretching far out into the distance from every angle. Wherever they were, they were far enough from shore that even his keen sight was rendered useless. Vagari cursed again and shouted out to BP, “We must have drifted into the center of the lake or something. I can’t see a damned thing!”
“Vagari!” BP hollered, pointing with one hand as she clung to the mast with the other. “Left side – left side!”
Mirroring her wisdom, he clung fast to the wheel. Out of the corner of his eye he could see three large things, three pillars of sorts cutting through the water towards them. “Hold on!” He cried out just as the pillars struck true, thrusting the boat up and through the water again, dousing them both as it struck back down. Still rocking on the waves, BP staggered to the wheelhouse and his side. “What WAS that?!” She exclaimed as Vagari frantically tried to restart the engine.
“Don’t know, and don’t rightly care to find out!” He returned hastily as the boat’s motor groaned into action. “Just hold on!”
“Hold on?!” BP squealed, “I’m never letting go!”
The boat was slow to wake, almost too slow as the three pillars pierced the surface of the water to strike at them once more. This time, however, they only would clip the rear of the vessel as they inched away. Still, just being brushed by the assailant was enough to send the pontoon spinning in the water. BP yelped and clung onto Vagari for dear life as the boat reeled about, skipping on the surface of the water like a well tossed stone. Then, once more the boat fell still, but this time they were facing the danger: the three pillars cutting through the water towards them like stalking sharks frenzied for the kill. “Brace yourself!” Vagari shouted as he looped one elbow through the wheel while wrapping his other arm around BP. “Here they come!”
They missed, just falling short. The pillars rose to strike again, and again they missed. It appeared now that they had been thrown seemingly out of reach. Confused, Vagari rose from his crouching position and dared to leave the wheelhouse behind, cautioning BP to stay close. Now at the front of the boat he got a good look at their assailant. The pillars were yellow-white like bone and stained with years of algae and the taint of the acrid waters. He recognized them more and more with each unrelenting swipe towards them. They weren’t pillars at all, nor were they the fins of some antediluvian leviathan. They were giants’ fingers.
Vagari’s heart froze in his chest at the sight of them. He knew what they were. He knew from the nightmares scarred into his brain, from the memories of days thought long past. He knew, but he had to be sure. Unfastening his cloak, he tossed it to the side, exposing his wings. “Stay… stay here,” He cautioned softly as he unfurled them, making a bee line to the crow’s nest. He climbed up in two great strides before leaping off onto the wind, his wings buzzing loudly as he took flight. “Vagari, what is it?!” BP called after him before mumbling to herself, “Where am I going to go? For a swim?”
Vagari flew skyward, straight up above the crow’s nest, up until the boat looked half its size. There, a hundred feet up, he could see it: their lady of the lake, an Angel in the water. A singular burning red eye pierced the water’s murky depths as the colossus struggled in vain to reach them. It was stuck it seemed, though whether the sediment held it, or it was imprisoned by some other means, Vagari couldn’t tell. Suddenly its crimson eye pulse as it built up power behind it, threatening to send up a beam of fiery plasma to end them. For a second Vagari panicked, but the beam it’s eye produced barely breached the surface as a boiling plume of bubbles. Try as it might, Vagari realized, it couldn’t hurt them. Whatever infernal engine that drove the monstrosity seemed to be dying. Good.
Vagari descended, circling the ship in a wide arch before landing softly upon the deck. He had hoped to spy any sign of anything, but only more waves greeted him even at such a height. “What is it?” BP inquired, tugging at his cloak as he pulled it back over his shoulders. “Vagari, what is it?”
“A colossus,” he told her bluntly. “A destroyer. Did Xu ever tell you about what people call angels?”
“Yes, a little,” BP answered with a slow nod before glancing back over the rails with a newfound dread in her eyes. “He called them… hersers though, or something like that. Kind of like robots, but not. They found one in the northern side of the city. He didn’t say much, just that they were extremely dangerous, but that one would be useful.”
“Ħrerseħwr,” Vagari corrected, recalling Xu’s knowledge of Adamic. “It means ‘Watchful Sword’ or ‘Knight’ – a guardian. But that’s not what they were… People called them angels because they fell from the heavens and fought against the archdemons – immense apocalyptic beasts that roamed the land seeding sickness and corruption with their very presence. Then they fought us too… if you could consider it a fight. It was one-sided. An extermination. We couldn’t even slow their advance – not really. Not without poisoning the land with their blood. They’re the reason why most the world has been turned into wastelands, void of all life. Then one day, they just vanished, leaving behind only their cursed dead.”
BP swallowed hard as she stared towards the giant’s fingers swiping at them still. “Don’t worry,” Vagari uttered softly, “it’s stuck, and dying. We must have activated it somehow when we drifted overhead. Or perhaps its just been struggling here since the fall.”
“I never imagined they’d be so big…” BP said, her dread slowly turning into something else – worry, but not for them. “There’s no way we can help it, is there?”
“Help it?!” exclaimed Vagari in a cross between shock and offense. He shook his head, reminding himself that he was coming from a place of trauma when she was coming from a place of compassion. Somehow, even after what she had gone through, this world hadn’t yet made her cruel. Her kindness truly knew no bounds. Vagari had to remind himself that that was a good thing – what he was fighting for. He took a deep breath and then shook his head once more. “No,” he said, “there’s nothing we can do for it. Not even put it out of it’s misery. Their blood is toxic and it would poison the entire lake if we killed it. No… Unfortunately it’s best to let it die on it’s own – to just shut down.”
“I’m sorry,” BP called out to the titan over the edge. “I wish we could help you! Maybe it wouldn’t be so… angry if it knew we would help if we could.”
It fired its beam again, sending her stumbling back from the railing. The superheated water turned to vapor that began to fog the area around them. “Let’s get out of here,” Vagari said bluntly, turning back to the wheel. He focused his mind on that feeling – the pull of magnetic north. “We’ll head north until we can see the shore again. We couldn’t have been thrown too far off course…” The engine once again sputtered to life, putting the boat back into action. Vagari didn’t look back as they left the colossus behind, but BP did. She returned to the railing and gazed out over the water, watching as the plumes of steam grew further and further behind them, watching as the angel’s hateful glare dimmed and died like a candle at the end of its wick.