Teddy and Lucy met them off the descending platform, grinning from ear to ear.
“She can fly!” Lucy blurted out before anyone had a chance to speak.
“Really?!” James asked, then looked at Teddy who nodded while grinning. They clasped hands in a manly fashion, hugged and beating each others backs. “Burn the land and boil the sea, you can’t take the sky from me.”
“There’s no place, I can’t be since I’ve found Serenity.” Teddy replied.
“All right boys calm down, it was a silly show.” Kyra said from where she was hanging on to Ragnar. Ragnar on the other hand looked like he was just being propped up by Kyra. The boys looked at her with socked, hurt expressions. She saw their faces and deflated a little and gave them a small silent sorry. “Hey, dummy, help me inside.” She poked Ragnar in the ribs and they shuffled forward.
Lucy and Teddy took James around the Serenity for a tour. What James had got so excited about was the new addition either side. It became apparent that they had taken the buggies, with their extra motors and mechanics and added them either side like outriggers. They blended in smoothly, with crystal panels all around the buggies and smooth crystal stanchions coming from the main body to hold them off the floor paralleled with the ship and in the middle. They explained that it was only good in very high magic areas, like that of the wasteland and the surrounding area, all the way to Stonewall.
“Coming up on your stop! Everyone evacuate the hanger!” One of the engineers called.
Baboa and Yarraballah floated down from where the platform was ascending with the remaining people in the hanger. Teddy, Lucy and James made their way up the back stairs, seeing a shock of blonde hair on the sofa in the middle deck as they passed.
“She’s going to be bitter she missed the first flight.” Teddy mumbled as they climbed the stairs.
The two gold rankers alighted on the top deck. Meeting the team that had made it.
“Mitchells, please pass on my gratitude to your wife Teddy, she, as you all have, have been fantastic company in your short stay. You are welcome back anytime.”
“Thankyou Baboa, this has been eye opening and you have been quite the host. We’ll be telling this story for a long time.” Teddy replied, shaking his hand.
“That is why I do what I do here.” Baboa said smiling.
Yarraballah also held out his hand to shake the teams. “I will part ways with you here, the nearest adventure society headquarters is a long way from Stonewall and you do not need me for this last leg.”
“It’s been a pleasure to meet you Ballah, and Firenze when you see him next. We spoke about it and would genuinely like to visit your culture to see for ourselves.”
His smile became beaming. “You would be most welcome. They will of course know all about you by the time you get there.”
“No pressure or anything then.”
Baboa stated levitating off the deck and Yarraballah joined him.
“Farewell adventurers, luck be with you.”
They moved off the Serenity. A light started to blink all around the hanger. Teddy stroked the roof of the Serenity and it sealed them in.
“Part of the refinements we made was using the engineers knowledge of the protections against the wasteland, we’re still underpowered but we’ll be fine for a short trip through.”
The hanger doors started rumbling open and Teddy slung himself into the seat.
“Sooo, no pressure, but how the hell are you going to know how to fly this thing?” James asked.
Teddy gave him a maniacal look and turned back to the controls. He gently tweaked a lever and the Serenity lifted off the wheels. He flipped a switch and the wheels softly folded into the bottom of the vessel. He spun the wheel and they turned to face the hanger doors.
“No seriously what do you know about flying?”
Teddy slammed a lever forward and the Serenity rocketed out of the hanger, it arced into the air, pulled a corkscrew and they rapidly climbed. They could see out of the back window the huge sandcrawler-looking vehicle growing smaller and smaller. Teddy levelled out the ship and turned to circle in the air. The blank table top next to the drivers controls could show the map from Teddy’s racial gift. He had it on now and it displayed the Serenity with a pillar underneath it to show its height.Teddy dropped the nose putting on some speed and pulled into a wide barrel roll.
“Damn thats good.” Teddy said. Levelling out and moving onto heading.
“Well don’t get used to it, we wont be able to use it like this often.” Lucy reminded him.
Teddy flew them straight for a while, they saw a huge black slope in front of them but they were high enough above it to not need to adjust course. They saw dozens of animal carcasses at the bottom of the slope where they had fallen down towards them, long slides down what looked like black ash on the slope. As they crossed the top of the slope the Serenity bucked a little, they all realised they suddenly felt a little better, an insidious malaise had seeped in on them without them noticing while they had been in the wasteland. Now they were out and flying in the clear air they felt themselves rapidly recovering. James reached up and swept the roof forward, there was a brief rush of wind before the magic Lucy had copied took effect and the rushing wind was blocked out.
“So how do you know how to fly?” James asked him.
“Skillbook, we bought so many, when one was about flying I couldn’t resist. Covers most small and large vehicles, its aimed more at people like Lu who have an ability to use magical items and vehicles.”
“We didn’t have the Serenity when you emptied your bank balance buying skill books though?”
“Yeh but like I said, I just couldn’t resist.”
A groggy voice came from the rear of the deck. “Did someone do a friggen barrel roll?!”
“Blame Teddy, he’s the only one who knows how to fly.” James said, pointing at the captain’s chair.
“What are you on about?” Kyra said grabbing the rear of the drivers compartment. “Why would Teddy know how to fly?”
“Skill book.”
“And you’re trusting him to do barrel rolls on his first trip because he had one book on flying? Y’all crazy. Anyway, we have a problem.”
“What’s the problem?” Lucy asked.
“It’s a snoring Viking shaped problem thats on one of our sofas downstairs.”
“Ragnar? Why is he here?”
“Well he helped me on board, then we both kind off crashed out and I guess he didn’t get off.”
“Are we going to get done for kidnapping? Viking-napping” James asked.
“Jeesh, he still out?” Teddy asked.
“Like a log, I left Lucky with him to hopefully wake him up quicker. This is pretty amazing.” She said looking around. “In a different way to flying with Ballah, this is ours.”
Kyra’s eyes cleared as she looked around and stood straighter, she moved over and stood behind Teddy in the chair an draped her arms over to rest on his chest.
“So how far have we got to go?”
“We should be there by tonight I think. All going well. Lucy, did you want to let Lechuza out, she’s been cooped up for a while!”
“Ohh! She has, thankyou.”
The feather markings around her eyes faded as the giant owl appeared behind her. She hopped excitedly from foot to foot, nudging Lucy with a beak that could’ve eviscerated her and took off. Her huge wing span taking her up and away.
Lucy was riding backseat in Lechuza’s vision as she did, feeling the elation from her familiar.
“Bank left now!!” She shouted, snapping out of it.
Teddy didn’t question it and banked hard to the left. A pair of huge talons rushed past the Serenity, attacked from underneath. The body of a huge bird rushed past, it looked like a huge eagle with two heads, one out front and one underneath. It spun around and banked to attack them from underneath. As it came at them Teddy kept a close eye, just before it struck he spun a lever then rammed it back, the right buggy rotated on the stanchion and applied all its power backwards, the Serenity spun and Teddy spun the lever back and applied full power, the bird missed by meters and the Serenity came back around onto its tail.
“FOR HEROOOOOO!” Came a massive shout.
From the rear of the deck Ragnar sprinted the length of the deck and jumped off the prow, body bent backwards holding his massive two headed axe over his head. He collided with the giant birds back and bit his axe in deep, securing his landing.
“Shit.”
“Crap.”
“Bugger.”
Lucy didn’t bother exclaiming, she ran to the prow and pulled open a seamless compartment. From inside she pulled out one of the harpoon guns from the pirates that attacked the ship they liberated. It was on a swing arm and she used two hands on it to swing it into position.
“You’re going to use that on Ragnar?!” James called.
“No, the bird!” She sighted over the top and fired. The harpoon flew true and sunk deep into the bird behind Ragnar. “Ragnar you mentalist. Grab the rope!” He somehow heard her and grabbed on with one hand. “Teddy, get lower than the bird.” He sunk the Serenity so they were looking up and the second head of the big bird which screeched at them. “What’re you waiting for! Ride it down!” He pulled his axe out of the bird, gave it another whack for good measure then swung it over the top of the rope and used it to slide down with both hands on the haft.
“James you got this?” Teddy asked.
“Oh hell yeh, lets do some pilot stuff.”
“Just straight and level dude.” Teddy handed the controls to James and rushed forward, he helped Lucy grab the big adventurer as he slid down onto the deck. Teddy then grabbed their end of the line and disconnected it. He opened his rift power and reached in attaching the rope to something inside. He then widened the rift and a ridiculously huge slab of rock dropped out and to the floor far below, dragging the huge bird down. He ran back and took the controls off James, spiralling the Serenity down after the bird being dragged down.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Why did you have such a big rock in your storage?” James said as they dived.
“From Charlie’s cave, when we were clearing out the cave-in. It was just a quick way to get rid of it, came in handy!”
They spiralled down, the bird has already hit the floor and wasn’t moving. As they got closer they saw the broken bones exposed and it had landed on its face.
“Jeesh, ok, Lucy send Lechuza in, she likes that kinda thing.” Teddy pulled up out of the dive. They got some decent bronze rank loot off the monster including some of the feathers that were listed as ‘crafting materials’.
They accelerated away again. Leaving the rising rainbow smoke behind.
“Harpoon worked good Lu.”
“Yeh I’m glad, this idiot.” She kicked Ragnar’s boot where he was sitting on the floor. “Is sure as heck glad it worked. What was that about?!”
“Eurgh, my god bade me travel, he must know what is out there for me. Now when opportunity rises to strike in his name I must take it!”
“Wait, You thought that little stunt was heroic?”
Ragnar has the decency to look a little ashamed.
“It was wild, but not heroic.”
Ragnar cracked a little smile. “But what a tale!”
They laughed as they flew, Lucky coming on the top deck looking like he had yet to get his sea legs, obviously not happy in the air on the manoeuvring Serenity.
They kept a good watch out after that, enjoying the breeze on the open part of the deck. They watched the sparse scenery pass by. The desolation of the wasteland was broken up by scrub and a few trees. The ground in front of them started splitting up, small canyons started forming. Teddy kept going in the rough direction but picked a canyon to follow. It started shallow and widened, they saw creatures below in the twists and turns, they couldn’t tell if they were animals or monsters but they left that to Lechuza to find out. The canyon was now at least a hundred meters deep and a few hundred meters wide. The canyon kept widening and deepening. Teddy checked the map, they would follow this canyon all the way to the town.
“Without wanting to jinx anything, we’re almost there guys. Check yourselves over, this is known point, there’s a chance something might happen.” Teddy said. “I’m going to take us down on to the high ground, I think the town is going to be on the left side of this canyon, James you take the left buggy, Kyra the right, Lucy you’re on sniping at the front, Ragnar… close in protection ok? Lu set him up on a team chat.”
While Lucy invited and explained the team chat to Ragnar the other two walked out over the wings to the buggies, Teddy kept the manoeuvring gentle so as not to throw them off, when they got to the end they stroked the crystal and it started ripple folding back to expose the cockpits. When they were in Teddy pulled up and banked over to the left and popped up over the lip of the canyon.
[Wheels.] Teddy put on the team chat as he pulled a lever and the Serenity’s wheels folded out.
When he had confirmation the other two had done the same he pulled a lever and the stanchions started folding in, dropping the two buggies. Shortly after the Serenity dropped to the ground also. The two buggies pulled up in formation before driving up into the drop deck at the back and parking. James and Kyra made their way back up top with their heads on a swivel.
Teddy kept checking the map, there was no report yet from Lechuza who was scouting from high, they all had their auras out and so he benefited from James’s enhanced perception power but nothing could be seen.
They drove the last hour in silence, everyone was on edge, all weapons were drawn, Lucy stood in a double chalk ritual circle on the front deck with a double Rune Lore affixed to her right arm while her left she held her Deathstick. Kyra was ready with spear in hand, James had a throwing snake ready to go and had summoned his staff. Ragnar has been shown the weapon stockpiles and helped himself to a sheathe of throwing hatchets.
Finally, at a bend in the canyon that stuck a section out into empty space they saw a few things on the horizon. The first was an archway of stone, created long ago as it was well weathered. Second was a carriage, fine wood and magically propelled so expensive to run as well as buy. There were two groups of people, one by the archway and one by the carriages just between them and the arch.
Getting closer the groups were interesting. The group near the archway weren’t human, they weren’t a race that the Mitchells recognised.
[Ragnar, you’re a local… to this planet. What race is that?] Lucy asked.
[To my small but ferocious warrior Lucy. It is I, Ragnar. On this day I hope you are well. May our god grace you with the opportunity to show valour in battle today. To your question of race, I have never seen the like before. I am shamed by my lack of knowledge and hope to meet them and find if they be honourable! Mine axe is yours, Ragnar of Hero.]
[Ragnar you don’t have to write messages like a letter, this is conversational chat, for gods sake don’t write a full letter when we’re in battle.]
The second group around the carriages looked like what Vincent described as outer territory nobility, they wouldn’t make it in the cities with the real nobility but out in the sticks they had the same privileges.
[Kyra, there’s a silver down there. We’ll stay aboard you go for negotiations and see what they want? I’ve got a funny feeing I know what it’s about.] Teddy said.
He stopped the Serenity short of the entourage. They all moved to the front to watch what was going on. James released Koda who dropped to the floor off the side and started sniffing and snuffling through the ground. Lechuza threw a shadow every now and then as she circled. Kyra squeezed Teddy’s hand and gently stepped off the prow. A pillar of earth rose to meet her foot and she stepped forward another pillar met the next, forming an impromptu set of stairs. She strolled forward, Lucky at her side and with her aura firmly in place, a hard rigid force that was impenetrable. The silver rank woman at the front of the group frowned at her approach. She was a hawkish woman, the beautifying effects of ranking to silver had obviously softened some of the sharp edges. She wore a high neck dress that reached the floor, her hands were tucked into her wide levees and she stood as if there was a stick strapped to her back.
“Who are you?” She asked imperiously. Holding her nose high and looking down at Kyra.
“What’s it to you? Who’s asking?”
The woman’s arms twitched in her sleeves but she controlled herself. Back on the Serenity Teddy was suddenly holding a shard of darkness, James’s throwing snake was alert, the ruffles down it’s back fluttering ready, Lucy had half raised her wand hand. Koda had stopped snuffling around and had locked on to where Kyra stood, all the hackles along Lucky’s back had risen.
“You are not Kyra Mitchell.”
“Well someone’s gotta break the news to her that I’m wearing her underwear and sleeping with her husband then. If you know who I am then who are you?” There was an audible snort of laughter from the Serenity.
[Steady Kyra, you’re meant to be the sensible and calm one to negotiate.]
[Teddy, she’s a natural douchebag, there’s only so much of that I can take.]
The woman took a deep breath, controlling herself.
“I am Lady Beatrix of house Whipash. I am here to take the contract from the Mitchell team and deliver it.”
“You mean deliver it to the people waiting just behind you? Talk about the eleventh hour. But we’ve got this thanks.”
“Humph, they are not people.” She said dismissively. “I say again, you are not Kyra Mitchell, she is recently bronze rank as is her team.”
“Well they certainly didn’t bring the most flexible thinker out today.” She relaxed her aura to allow the nature of it to be visible. The silver ranker immediately moved to clamp down on her aura and Kyra swiftly put her defences back up. “Rude. Now we have established that I am who I say I am will you answer why you think you are taking the contract off us?”
“The families have been directed to take over the contract.”
“Directed by who? Show me the contract if the Adventure Society has given it to you.”
“I don’t have to show you anything you upstart.”
“House Whipash? Is that some branch family of Whipparrel? The Whip family or something?”
“Of course it is you silly girl, now give us the cargo and I wont have any more to do with you.”
“No, I think we’re done here.” She motioned for Teddy to drive round the group to the archway. “We don’t want anything to do with you anyway.”
The silver ranker’s face was suddenly furious. She was angry enough to actually stamp her foot and she raised an arm high and slapped Kyra. The slap was with silver rank strength, but there was a big difference from a well trained strong silver and a coddled spoilt monster-core using silver. Kyra also had the Earth essence which made her much stronger than she looked and with a combination of seeing the blow coming and rolling her face with it and adhering her feet to the floor with her earth essence powers she remained standing after the blow.
[Aww shit, its on!] James said excitedly.
From where she had been slapped to the side Kyra uncoiled like a striking snake. She slapped the silver ranker back and sent her flying. She had used her Self Reflection power, taking the full strength of the silver ranker’s slap and adding her own considerable bronze rank strength, her martial technique was much better than the spoilt woman and she twisted her hips into it to use her full strength. The woman skidded in the dirt, muddying her dress and ripping it in places.
The Serenity had moved forward with Teddy at the wheel and Kyra used an Earth Spike under her feet to boost herself onto the top deck. James was leaning over the side of the rail looking down at the Lady Beatrix lying in the dirt in shock.
“Welcome to the ‘Fuck about and find out club’!” He shouted as they rolled past.
“You Mitchells certainly are an interesting team.” Ragnar commented. “She is really your best negotiator?”
“Well Lucy ends up bamboozling people, I tend to open with aggressive negotiations, and James has even less patience than me mostly.”
“What is aggressive negotiations?” The big man asked confused and Teddy smiled.
“He means negotiations with a lightsaber.” James said rolling his eyes.
Ragnar looked just as confused after James’s explanation but didn’t have a chance to clarify as they came up to the second group, the first were loudly arguing about what to do.
The second group were very tall, all wearing very long brown robes that reached the floor and had deep hoods that completely covered their faces. Teddy pulled up close and jumped down, leaving the rest to keep an eye on the other party.
“Hello, are you representatives of Stonewall?”
“We are.”
“Well nice to meet you.”
The strange figures shuffled slightly, two at the back looking at each other and the one at the front tilting his head slightly. “It is… nice to meet you too?” The figure said almost as a question.
“We have your cargo delivery from the port of Greenstone.”
“You are late.”
“We had some complications, very sorry about that, we’d be happy to explain over a drink at some point.”
There was more disconcerted rustling amongst the figures. “Very well, you are hereby accepted under contract, we will accept.”
“Just you wait!” Came a shrill voice, Lady Beatrix was stomping across the rocky floor towards them.
A strange swelling power rose from the four figures behind the leader. They stepped out around him and past, their gait was strange, their knees seemed to hit the cloth of the robe a foot or so above where Teddy would have expected them to be. The power felt strong like silver but it felt different, not like an essence power. A huge wall of earth erupted behind the Serenity, it split into a lattice-like structure with spikes facing outwards.
Lady Beatrix pulled up short. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” She almost screamed shrilly.
“These adventurers are under contract to us and are in our influence. You are interfering.” The leader said calmly. A similar surge of power left him and the reply from Beatrix was cut off, she was obviously ranting but no sound made it through the lattice. “We must take the cargo.” He said turning his attention to Teddy.
“Err sure.” Teddy said, a little unsettled by the power he had just seen. “We can unload it from the side, how do you want to do this?”
“Open the side of you vehicle and we will do the rest.”
Teddy did as he was bid. Going up to he Serenity and opening a panel, he used the controls to make the wheels fold up into the hull and the Serenity lowered slightly onto its own magic, it bucked slightly out of character but Teddy used the controls to get it to settled on the floor. He then stroked the panel on the outside of the compartment they used for storage and the crate was exposed, he went in and wound back all the measures they had put in place to hold it steady.
Two of the strange people came forward and used tools from within their robes to open the side of the crate, their hands never leaving the folds of cloth. They exposed a gunmetal grey box which took up the whole crate. They opened that as well showing multiple containment fields. Lucy looked on with interest as they disabled them all to show another grey box inside, this one much smaller, the size of a briefcase which they took and stowed under their robes. The Mitchells were a little shocked to see how small the package was inside the huge crate.
The leader was having a whispered conversation with the other two. When they had the cargo they turned back to Teddy. “You do not feel like a human.” He said matter of factly.
“Good spot chief, me and mine are outworlders, minus Ragnar here.”
“Yes, he feels human. That is problematic.”
“Problematic? Why’s that?”
They grumbled a little and one of them was obviously uncomfortable about the decision they had come to in their whispered conversation. “We are not often greeted as you have, we are often feared and shunned and thought of as lessers.” He motioned to the still fuming Lady Beatrix on the other side oof the lattice.
“I have no idea why we would not be polite to you!” Teddy said.
“We see that, and we would invite you below. This is problematic for your friend. You will be safe but he will grow ill.”
“We have a team healer with us if that helps?” Lucy said.
“No it will not. You have obviously not been told bout Stonewall town. We sit amongst a natural array.”
“Oohhh!” Lucy said excitedly.
“Care to fill us in Lu?” James said.
“It’s like any other magic array, materials around the edge form a magical effect in the centre, but these form naturally over the years, sometimes centuries. Manifestations spontaneously creating the circle. The people of this town must have been slowly… mutated, over the years living here. We should be fine being outworlders as our bodies are sufficiently magical but Ragnar… can’t stay, at least not for long, else he will get ill.”
Teddy looked back over his shoulder at the fuming silver ranker. “How long can he go down for?”
“We can keep an eye on him, we’ll know long before any permanent damage and he can take a break, once he has he should be able to come back, I can try fashion something for him to protect him somewhat.”
“What do you think Ragnar?”
“I am keen to see the dens of these people! Long have we heard of the valour of the Stonewall people from afar and the weapons they make to put in the hands of the ordinary people to turn them into heroes!”
“Well that settles it then. We would love to accept you invite below mr…?”
“Orcnig, then please, come below.”
He turned and moved to the archway. With everyone off Teddy collapsed the Serenity, for the first time in a very long time and put it in storage. They followed the strange gait of the Stonewallers to the arch, when they got there they were on the edge of the curve that stuck out into the canyon and they could see down into it. What they could see would’ve taken their breath away if they still had it.