Fairy Opera Chapter 33: Sabotage

 

Sabotage

The basement was simply furnished. A short bar stretched across one corner and held a couple of bottles of liquor. Weapons hung on the walls, some of them appearing ancient.

Hammer motioned for us to sit. There wasn’t enough room for everyone. Lator, one of the dark elves who had come with us, bowed. “We shall stand, sir.” He and the rest of the elves stayed standing.

Tae, Jak, and I sat down around the basement table. Hammer sat across from us while Glaston stood with his arms crossed.

Hammer leaned forward. “The Ultimar receives food shipments every two days. We’ve managed to hide a large payload of gunpowder inside two of the shipment crates for the next delivery.” Hammer held up his hands. “I heard that you can use magic. Your mission will be to bring the two crates to the Ultimar’s two skysteel engines. Use magic to lift the crates.”

I nodded. “Okay. I also have invisibility magic, so we’ll be able to get past the guards.”

“Indeed.” Hammer stood up. “We’ll lodge you here until the crates are loaded.”

For the next twenty or so hours, we remained in the basement, which was stocked with everything we needed. About ten hours into the wait, Tae kicked up her feet on the table while sitting next to me.

“You remember back when we stole the geese from Mother Den?” She looked at her fingernails.

“Yeah.” I leaned my head back. “It was kind of like this. We were in and out without being seen.”

“Every time I think about that, I realize that we could have gotten into big trouble if we had been caught.”

“I know.”

Tae let her hand fall. “And I thank the stars that we ended up as well as we did. We really did tear up the streets back then.”

“Yup.” I put my arms behind my head. “Those were the days.”

Tae looked at one of the dark elves, who was sitting and meditating. “It’s funny that we’ve come full circle. This time we’re fighting for our freedom. This time we’ve got big shoes to fill.”

“I wonder what Orion would have thought about all this.”

“He probably would have dived into it just like we did.” Tae shrugged. “I’m sure he’s up there, watching us, making sure that we don’t make any stupid mistakes.”

I chuckled. “I wish he were still here with us, but we have to work with the cards we’re dealt.”

Tae looked up at the ceiling. “Yep.”

Ten hours later we gathered our equipment. Hammer and Glaston entered the basement.

“We’re ready.”

I nodded, pulling out a scroll. Two of the dark elves pulled out scrolls as well. We cast the invisibility spell in tandem. They were worded slightly differently, but they worked. We left the basement without being seen, leaving the inn, traveling the dark streets to the docks where the Ultimar was docked for repairs. The place was industrial in appearance, with a number of cranes and pieces of heavy equipment placed along the walkway. Catwalks stretched between towers.

There were a large number of guards doing their patrol. But since it was night, and since we were invisible, we were able to sneak past them with no trouble.

We boarded the Ultimar. Right on deck, two crates marked with the code symbol were stacked. I whispered the command to lift. Lator cast the float spell on the first crate, while I cast the spell on the second crate. Casting two spells at once drained my mana much faster than just one, so we turned off our invisibility. We wouldn’t need it anyways, as our intel said that there would be no guards inside the ship, as the entire crew was ashore. According to the map of the ship, the first skysteel engine was on the seventh deck, right above one of the coal storage rooms. Which made since as a skysteel engine of that magnitude had to be a hungry beast.

We traveled without incident to the sixth deck. Just as we passed one of the empty bunk rooms, a siren went off. We stopped. The two crates hovered next to us.

“We’ve got to get moving.” We rushed down to the seventh deck and headed for the skysteel engine room.

A white portal opened right in the middle of the doorway. Two beings made from wood and trees, dryads, stepped through.

I put my hand out. “Stop.” The crate I was handling clunked to the ground. “They know we’re here.”

Lator held out his sword. “Should we run? Or should we press onward?”

“Let’s fight.” I rushed at the dryads. The one on the right swiped at me with a fist, which extended far past human limits. The fist went right over my shoulder. I grabbed the vines holding it up and yanked them. The dryad that had aimed at me staggered. One of the dark elves stabbed it in the neck, causing a spray of sap-like blood.

“We have to hurry!”

I turned to Tae. “Take Lator and get to the second skysteel engine. I’ll hold off anyone who tries to come after you.”

Tae gripped my hand. “Let’s meet up at the second tower.”

I nodded. Tae looked at me, then turned and ran with four of the dark elves, including Lator.

Jak and I faced the remaining dryad, along with two dark elves. The dryad shot its arm forward at one of the dark elves. Its arm was twisted into a sword-like point. The dark elf dodged, but was caught in the shoulder, spraying blood everywhere. The dryad latched onto the elf. As it did, its arm began to pulsate. The dark elf’s life essence was being siphoned, traveling through the arm as a deep purple substance.

I hacked at the extended arm. The arm was tough, like the root of a tree, but on the third strike I severed the connection. The injured dark elf pulled back. The other dark elf dragged him away from the fight.

Jak and I faced the dryad. The dryad tried the same trick with its other arm, but I blocked the attack with my sword. I closed in on the dryad and hacked its leg off. More of that sap-like blood spilled onto the floor. The dryad collapsed. I finished it off with a quick stroke.

I turned back to the crate we were hauling. Using another lift spell, I brought it up to the skysteel apparatus. It was a large, metallic behemoth, with pipes flowing everywhere, at the center of which sat a gigantic cube of skysteel.

Skysteel, when heated, allowed for the floatation of skyships. If this thing was destroyed, the Ultimar would sink straight to the skyfloor.

I let the crate down right next to the coal chute. There was a small detonator on the side of the crate, which I set for twenty minutes. Then I backed away.

“You sure are persistent.” Someone spoke from behind me.

I turned around and came face to face with Malgor. Malgor grinned.

I swept my sword through the air. “I knew that didn’t kill you.”

“You made me use my phylactery.” Malgor’s lips curled up. “That hurt. But you won’t beat me this time.” About a dozen Imperial marines came up behind Malgor.

I sighed. “Okay. You got me.” I held up my hands. “Null Bravos. Fire. Backwards. Include Fresco.”

Malgor’s face twisted. Just as he lunged towards me, the crate behind us exploded with force. A shield formed behind myself and Jak, which acted like a pressurized surface, shooting us towards the bulkhead. The explosion tore through the wood, sending us out into the skyfloor. My ears were ringing, but my body had not much more than a singe. We started falling, so I cast a float spell, and our descent stopped.

I turned to the Ultimar, which was listing at port. The entire front portion was falling apart.

“Tae, I good luck.”

Jak stood up and put his fingers to his mouth. A long, loud whistle emanated.

Ruby came out from my pocket. “I’ll rescue her.” She darted away, back towards the Ultimar.

Secondary explosions began rippling through the Ultimar’s hull. Just then, several small figures leaped out from a cannon port. It was Lator, Tae, and several other dark elves.

However, there was no second explosion. While the Ultimar began to tilt at a precarious angle, it was not sinking. We had failed to destroy the second skysteel engine.

I used a wind spell to push us back towards the shore. We turned around the island and landed on a small, hidden alcove. About ten minutes later Tae, Lator, and the other dark elves landed.

Tae collapsed to the ground. “Mission failed.” She sighed. “And we almost died to boot.”

Jak shook his head. “You’ve put the ship out of commission for quiet some time.” He held up his hands. “There’s no way the Ultimar is flying anytime soon.”

“So we bought ourselves time.” I helped Tae back up to her feet. “That’s good enough. We’ll have to figure out another way to defeat the ship.”

“Malgor.” Jak shook his head. “I thought you killed him.”

“Did I not tell you?” I looked at Jak. “I noticed that he was smiling when his body decomposed. I knew he was coming back.”

“Is it even possible to kill a cardinal inquisitor?”

“Probably not without destroying his phylactery.” I sighed. “But in any case, let’s get back to Gagna before we’re caught.” We traveled around the outskirts of the island before we came to where our ship was berthed. We got on board and left, the darkness concealing us. The Ultimar was in flames on the other side of the island, which painted the night sky with a red hue.

About a week later we docked at Gagna. Andrew came up to greet us.

“Did you do it?”

I shook my head. “We didn’t. They caught us with a magical alarm. Plus, the skysteel engines were defended.”

Andrew gritted his teeth. “So we’re doomed.”

“No. We managed to destroy one of the engines. The Ultimar is out of commission for at least four months.”

Andrew sighed in relief. “Good. That’s about how much time it will take to assemble our forces.”

My stomach grumbled. I turned to Tae. “I’m tired of ship’s food. Do you want to go eat something?”

Tae nodded. Her, Jak, and I returned to the Green Dagon, where we ordered a large plate of pork and several bowls of stew. The fare was as delicious as ever.

Lator came into the diner, with several dark elves behind him. He bowed. “I thank you for saving my fellow.”

The dark elf next to him, which was the one I had cut off from the dryad’s siphon. The elf bowed. “My name is Hex. You saved me, so I shall repay you in kind.”

I waved my hand. “You don’t have to go that far. I only did what anyone would have.”

Hex looked up. “I shall pay my debt.”

Lator lifted his head. “We shall be awaiting your command.” He turned on his heels and left the room, followed by his retinue.

I turned to Jak. “I guess I did the right thing.”

“You fought those two dryads like a warrior.” Jak lifted his chin. “Be proud of yourself.”

We continued to eat and talk about normal, everyday things, which was a nice break from all of the dark topics around us. When we were done eating, Tae motioned to me. “We haven’t gone shopping in quite a while. Do you want to go see what the market has to offer?”

I nodded. “Let’s go.” Tae and I left the inn and walked across town to the market. Tae dragged me in between shops, while I carried all the things she bought.

I was happy, though. I wasn’t dead and I had bought the Rebellion time to recoup. And that was the best thing I could hope for.

 

 

34

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